Alzheimers Disease-The Mice Project

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Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive deterioration of the brain which causes quick deterioration of the brain affecting the person’s mental and cognitive state. It has been considered incurable and is one of the most common causes of dementia. Alzheimer’s affects nearly 44 million people worldwide and 5.5 million Americans.

However, there is hope on the horizon for this grim disease.

The experiments were led by director MIT’s Picower Institution of Learning and Memory, Li-Huei Tsai. Throughout her research, she has recently discovered that the use of strobe lights (at 40 clicks or flashes per second) helps the brains gamma rays create a sort of rhythm which is normally disrupted in those affected by alzheimer’s.

The clicking sounds and strobe lights improved brain function of mice with alzheimer like symptoms. There was a significant reduction in the toxic levels of protein found in these mice.

After the treatment, these furry little critters were able to retain more information and their cognitive functions improved drastically. They were able to recognize objects and navigate through mazes with little to no trouble.

It is important to keep in mind that mice are not humans, and previous findings did not work as effectively on people as it did on mice. However, this new discovery did not have lasting effects and the highly improved results faded after a week once the sensory stimulation stopped being administered.

Most likely, any therapy will have to be given out on a regular basis. Yet seeing the amazing improvements made from a noninvasive form of light and sound stimulation therapy, it has given many scientists hope for future discoveries.

Tsai and her team discovered that the mice affected by alzheimer’s improved drastically and the hippocampus – which is directly affected by the disease when it first begins – had an overall improvement with the mices ability to navigate through mazes and retain more information.